2013 may be better for General Motors (and even the rest of the auto industry in India), according to GM India Managing Director Lowell Paddock. Speaking to reporters in India earlier this week after attending the grand opening of a new Chevy dealership in the city of Visakhapatnam, Mr. Paddock said that 2012 was an underperforming year for India’s auto business, and for GM in the country.
“But we are launching new models this year. Already we have 8,000 bookings for Sail sedan and we are off to a good start.”
In addition to the subcompact Sail, The General will also launch the Enjoy MPV (a rebadged Wuling) in May, and also “another one” later on in the year, according to Mr. Paddock, who added that the automaker expects a substantial growth in sales this year. When asked whether GM would venture into the highly-popular light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment, Mr. Paddock said that it was not on the agenda at the moment.
The Sail line replaces the old Daewoo-developed Aveo, and General Motors offers Chevrolet in the Indian market.
The new Chevy dealership, called Orange Auto, marks GM’s 19th sales and service center in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Nationwide in India, GM has 285 sales and 278 service outlets.
Comments
Based on my research, the majority of foreign automakers’ issues came from not understanding the market. The fact that cars–even small ones–are expensive commodities in India does not mean that the people there want to be insulted by subpar products. If GM exerts the same kind of efforts in India as they do in China, they should come out alright…